Summary

"Science is apolitical" is a deeply political statement: One only feels the need to assert something like this in times when it is a hard case to make. That science exists within a political environment and participates in political activities should not be controversial. But it is, especially in the current moment, when it would be (politically) convenient to have something in our present world that felt devoid of politics. Audra Wolfe's provocative new book, Freedom's Laboratory, dives into the fascinating history of why asserting the apolitical nature of science became a political priority during another notably politicized period in America's past: the Cold War.